The Way
by mint-choc-chip amethyst
Summary: 'When you said anything, did you really mean it' Noa leaned in even further until her face was less than an inch away from his, as she whispered these words. Sirius breathed in, god she smelt amazing! 'Anything for you gorgeous.' Noa kicked him under the table, and returned to her original position. 'Then why don't you get lost until you have the decency to apologise.'
1. Chapter 1

_'One for sorrow, two for joy,_

_Three for a girl, four for a boy,_

_Five for silver, six for gold,_

_Seven for a secret that will never be told'_

_A lone magpie stood on the grass, not five feet away from where Noa lay, a forgotten book on her stomach as she peacefully dozed. All was quiet; next door a little girl was softly singing to herself in Italian. Suddenly an ear-splitting scream filled the air, and Noa sat up, alert. The magpie flew off, croaking angrily. The noise stopped as swiftly as it had begun, and it was silent again. Noa sprung to her feet and hurried inside._

_'Dad? Dad, are you okay?! Da-'_

_It was then that she saw the body._

Noa woke with a start, tangled in her sheets with her forehead damp with perspiration. It wasn't the first time this had happened; ever since her father had died a month earlier she hadn't had a good night's sleep, the memory replaying in her mind every time she closed her eyes. She looked around her room, concentrating on slowing her breath down. Her gaze passed over the black and white framed photos that adorned her walls, down to her thick white carpet covered in old magazines, random articles of clothing, her huge trunk, makeup- wait, a trunk? Noa's eyes flashed over to her calendar, and she groaned. Today's date was circled in red marker; it was the 1st September, the day she boarded the Hogwart's express and started her new school.

Noa buried her head under her pillow, and tried to clear her mind of all the thoughts now sprinting around it. However, before she could fall back asleep, a ginger haired whirlwind entered her room.

'Good, you're awake. Time to get up, we don't want you being late on your first day. I've got to go and make sure Fabian and Gideon aren't trying to sneak anything illegal into school

again. Come down to breakfast as soon as you're dressed.'

'Thanks Molly.' Noa smiled up at Molly with genuine gratitude in her eyes. Molly had been so good to her ever since her father's death: giving her a place to stay, organising the funeral and giving her the space she knew Noa needed.

Noa rolled out of bed, and went over to her mirror. Ugh, she looked a mess, lack of sleep hadn't been doing her any favours. Sighing, she took her concealer, and started to get ready.

* * *

Platform 9 ³/₄ was packed with people; there were the first years crying as they said goodbye to their parents, friends rushing over to greet each other and tell each other all the juicy secrets from the summer, and a countless array of animals making a huge racket. Two dark haired boys suddenly appeared through the entrance, both with identical grins on their faces. One of them caught sight of a third boy, and waved excitedly, almost hitting the first in the face. This resulted in a quick wrestling match, as the third boy quickly made his way over.

'Padfoot, Prongs! How are you both?'

The two boys leapt up, and engulfed the third in a huge hug.

'Oh Moony, it's been too long!'

'Yes my dearest Remus, my heart has been breaking from the separation!'

Remus laughed at them both, and shoved them off him.

'James, Sirius, I saw you both last weekend when I came over with Peter!'

The taller of the two dark haired boys, James, looked around him puzzled. 'Hey, speaking of him, has anyone seen Wormtail?'

The other boy, Sirius, suddenly jumped. 'Ahah! There he is! Oi, Wormtail, over here!'

A short boy scurried over, a smile lighting up his face as he saw the other three. Before he could reach them however, James nudged Sirius and let out a low whistle.

'Damn Padfoot, look it's your twin!'

The boys all simultaneously looked over at where James eyes were focused. At first all they could see were the Prewett twins, probably up to no good like themselves, but when Gideon moved slightly they saw her. She was gorgeous; she had thick, long, burgundy-red hair tied up in a ponytail that was slightly curled at the end and huge, almond shaped, dark brown eyes. Her skin had an even, bronze tan and she looked slightly foreign. She was wearing short white denim cut-offs that showed off her long legs, a tight black tank top, a leather jacket that was slightly too big for her and matching biker boots. Sirius looked down at his own leather jacket and biker boots and let out a bark like laugh.

'Wow mate, she's hot! I haven't seen her around, and she looks too old to be a first year- who do you think she is?'

'Only one way to find out,' James said, and winked at the others.

* * *

Noa sighed - she seemed to be doing that a lot today - and looked around. Fabian and Gideon had sprinted off together as soon as they had reached the platform, saying that they had 'an important matter to attend to'. God knows what that meant! Molly, once giving her a quick peck on the cheek and wishing her good luck, had left too soon after. As to the other students, none of the girls had even said hello to her - they were too busy whispering about her- and the boys, even though they weren't whispering as much, hadn't bothered to come over either. Great, she hated being the new girl already, and she hadn't even reached school. Noa bit the inside of her lip, and shook herself out of her funk - you know what - she thought - fuck them, who are they to judge me? She flicked her wand at her trunk, making it levitate a couple of centimeters about the ground, and strode confidently onto the train.

Noa strolled along through the compartments, trying to find one filled with people her age. If no one was going to talk to her, she would have to go over to them. At her old school she had been pretty popular, especially with guys, and she didn't plan on being a loner any time soon. As she was beginning to reach the end of the train, she entered a compartment full of boys who looked like they would be starting the 5th year, like her. They all looked up as she paused by them, their slightly annoyed expressions morphing into smiles as they took in her appearance.

'Hi there, I was wondering if this seat was free', Noa said, her American accent making her seem even more exotic to the boys, as she gestured to an empty seat next to one of them.

'Of course.' The boy replied, moving his belongings from it. 'I'm Evan Rosier, pureblood.'

Noa thought this was rather an odd thing to say to someone you had just met, but shook her head, thinking it was probably nothing. She concentrated on what Evan was saying, as he finished listing the other boys in the carriage, by surname - this too was slightly odd, surely you would refer to your friends by their first names, but again she dismissed it.

'... Mulciber and Avery. Now, who are you?'

The conversation flowed easily for the next ten minutes, Noa making sure it stayed light - she didn't really want people she had known for less than half an hour knowing all of her secrets.

The train was on the outskirts of London, when the door opened again, and this time all the boys in the compartment had very different reactions. They all leapt up and had their wands drawn before Noa was even able to see anything more about the people at the door, apart from the fact that they were boys. One of them grabbed her by the arm, and shoved her out into the corridor, slamming the door closed behind him. Suddenly spells were flying everywhere inside the compartment, including one which had produced a lot of smoke, and Noa couldn't see what was going on. She let out a huff of frustration - what was she meant to do now - her trunk was in there! Just then the train jolted, and she fell on the floor. That made up her mind, she was just going to have to find a different compartment, and come back for her trunk at the end of the journey.

* * *

She finally found an empty compartment towards the back of the train, she didn't really want company any more. She sat down at a window seat, and put her legs on the one next to it, leaning her head back against the window. Just as she was starting to get comfortable however, the door opened again, and noise filled the compartment, as the boys who had stormed into the other compartment entered.

The first to enter was a tall boy with messy brown hair and glasses that were slightly lopsided at the moment. He smiled at Noa as he sat down opposite her. He then stuck out his hand.

'James Potter, pleased to meet you.'

Before she had a chance to reply a second boy entered the carriage. He was slightly shorter, and looked aristocratic with long black hair and a devilishly handsome grin. He pushed her legs off the aisle seat, before sitting down extremely closely to her, and casually putting an arm around her shoulder.

'Hey there love, nice to see you again - I was the lucky man to save you back there. I'm Sirius Black, here if ever need anything.' He then winked at Noa, causing hundreds of dirty images to cross her mind.

Whilst she had been watching Sirius, the last two boys had entered. The first one, who looked slightly ill and had multiple cuts on his face, took the seat next to James and simply smiled at Noa. The second one, a lot shorter than the others and slightly plump, took the seat across the aisle from the first, his eyes averted down towards the floor when Noa looked over at him questioningly.

'Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew', James said in way of an explanation, waving his hand first towards the boy sitting next to him, and then to the one across the aisle.

An idea entered Noa's head, and she secretly smiled to herself. She turned back towards Sirius, and leaned in.

'When you said anything, did you really mean it?' Noa leaned in even further until her face was less than an inch away from his, as she whispered these words.

Sirius breathed in, god she smelt amazing! 'Anything for you gorgeous!'

Noa kicked him under the table, and returned to her original position.

'Then why don't you get lost until you have the decency firstly to apologise and tell me what the hell happened back there and secondly to ask before you just sit down!'

James and Peter burst out laughing from across the table, and even Remus let a little grin out. As for Sirius, he looked like a five year old boy who had just been told off, as he rubbed his leg.

'Ooh Pads - looks like she's a feisty one!'

Noa snorted. 'You can bet she is!'

Meanwhile Sirius' mind was whirling. There was something about her that intrigued him. Sure, she was smoking, but she could hold her own - he liked that, it made her different from all those girls he'd been with in the past. She was definitely a challenge, but he liked that, and it made him even more determined to win her over.

He gave her another smoking smile.

'Sorry gorgeous. It's just, those people, you don't wanna be friends with them. Pure blood fanatics who all turn out to be dark wizards; they probably only looked at your smokin' body when they let you sit with them. I mean, you gotta look at it from our perspective, we saw a beautiful girl in trouble - we couldn't let that happen, could we Prongs?'

James, who had zoned out and was trying to distract Remus from the book he was reading, jumped slightly at the sound of his name and turned back to face Sirius and Noa. 'Quite right mate. What kind of men would we be otherwise?'

'Less annoying ones', Noa said under her breath. However, she thought over her current situation; there had been something not right about the boys she had been sitting with earlier, and these boys were just as good to talk to if they stopped being so bloody arrogant.

'Fine you can stay if you can prove to me that you are worth my time more than they were, but you gotta stop calling me stupid names - my actual name is Noa Prewett.'

All the boys were determined to be deemed interesting by her, and grabbed at this piece of information - the first this new girl had shared with them.

'Prewett - as in Fabian and Gideon?' James asked, intrigued.

'Yes, they're my cousins, along with Molly.'

So your Dad is their uncle?'

'No, I'm related to them through my Mom. I took her maiden name.'

'Where are you from? Why did you transfer here?'

Noa sighed at all their questions, but decided she might as well answer them, they seemed genuinely interested and would all find out soon enough.

'My Mum, as I've told you, was a Prewett, and my Dad was part of the old Italian pureblood family Maurino. I have an American accent because I lived in America when I was younger, as my Mom was half American. My Mom died when I was nine along with my Aunt and Uncle - Molly, Fabian and Gideon's parents - in an top secret mission in England for the ministry that went wrong, even now I still don't really know what happened. Fabian and Gideon went to live with Molly, who had just turned eighteen, but I moved with my Dad in Italy. I went to Beauxbatons when I turned eleven, as it was just across the border; I'm here now because during the summer holidays that just past, my Dad was murdered - they never caught who did it. Molly kindly invited me into her home, and Dumbledore let me transfer here.'

The compartment was silent for a while, none of the boys had expected her to say anything like that. Finally Remus spoke.

'I'm sorry for your loss.'

Noa shrugged, still caught up in her own past. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to tell these boys her whole life story, but it was better that people knew the truth than some ridiculous made up story and, despite their faults, these boys seemed genuinely nice. She had known them for all of half an hour, but she felt a connection with them, especially with James and Sirius, that she'd never felt with anyone else. Yes, she'd been one of the most popular girls in Beauxbatons, but she had never had any really close friends. She couldn't really trust any of them with her secrets, as she knew most of them would use anything they could against her to get her off the top spot, and themselves on it.

Luckily the food trolley chose that moment to pass through their compartment and, in the excitement of choosing what to get, the sombre mood of a minute ago was forgotten. As the boys started to trade chocolate frog cards and dare each other to eat weirdly coloured Bertie Bott beans, Noa smiled and relaxed completely for the first time in ages.

* * *

Noa pursed her blood red lips as she looked around the Great Hall for the first time, taking in the amazing magical ceiling, the ghosts floating around, the teachers sitting at a table at the end, and four massive tables filled with students - who all seemed to be staring at her. Noa had changed her clothes and applied new make up when she pulled her robes on to give the biggest impact she could - first impressions were very important. She had long, dark lashes to match her crimson lips, and the studs in her ears had been replaced with large gold hoops. Her robes were pushed back on her shoulders, revealing high waisted black leather leggings paired with a light green cropped top, showing off an inch of her stomach. On her feet were black heeled pumps with studded toes, and her hair had been redone in the same ponytail. Yes, it was a bit much, but she wanted these people to know she wasn't to be messed with.

Noa was currently standing in line with a lot of first years. In front of them was an old hat, currently singing a song about the four houses, but Noa had zoned out and was still looking around at her surroundings. Over at a table covered in red and gold - Gryffindor she thought - she caught Sirius' eye and he mouthed good luck to her. she smiled, remembering the trip that she had just had. The Maurauders - as they called themselves - were hilarious, and had stayed with her throughout the whole journey, even kicking Peter out of their carriage going up to the castle so that she could join them. She was going to miss them if she ended up in a different house.

Suddenly the hat stopped singing and shouted out her name for everyone to hear. Professor McGonagall, a strict woman who had met her when she left her carriage, motioned for her to go over to the hat, frowning slightly when she took in Noa's attire. Noa walked over confidently to the hat, and placed it on her head, sitting on the stool she had just taken it from. Inside however, she was anything but confident, wondering what on earth was going to happen to her.

'Hmm... how interesting'

Who's there, Noa thought, startled by the voice.

Hush now.' The voice spoke again, an Noa realized it came from the hat on her head. 'Keep quite while I decide which house to place you in. You have aspects of all the houses. You have the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, and the intelligence of a Ravenclaw - but no, you wouldn't fit in either of those houses. What about Slytherin? You are cunning and ambitious, yes you'll be...' Suddenly memories of the train journey floated into Noa's mind; the boys at the beginning, the interruption, and the rest of the journey with the Marauders. 'Well, that changes things completely, looks like you'll be going to the house of the brave, daring and chivalrous instead... GRYFFINDOR!'

Noa looked around, and it was obvious that the hat had shouted the last word out loud, as the Gryffindor table started whooping and cheering. Noa smirked as she walked over to the table, where the Marauders were frantically waving for her to sit with them. She sat down in between James and Sirius, who both started congratulating her.

'I told you she'd be put in Gryffindor!' Sirius crowed to no one in particular.

Noa laughed and put an arm around each of them.

'So, when's the food coming, I'm starving!'

'It doesn't come until after all the first years have been sorted, which should be soon', Remus said from across the table.

Just then the whole hall went silent, and everyone turned towards the end table, when Dumbledore stood up. Noa had never seen him in person before, Molly had gone to speak to him about her transferring, but she knew it was him from chocolate frog cards.

'Before we start, I would like to say a couple of words. Tuck in!'

Suddenly the table was groaning from the weight of all the food; there was roast beef, roast chicken, lamb chops, steak, over ten different variety of potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, peas, carrots, gravy and - weirdly enough - mint humbugs.

Noa started loading her plate until it was almost overflowing, and then did indeed tuck in.

Noa was one of the last to leave the Great Hall, time had passed so quickly while she was talking to the Marauders. A wave of tiredness came over her as she walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. She said goodbye to them as soon as she stepped through the painting of a fat lady and, too tired to take in the common room, walked up the girls staircase. She stopped when she reached the door with '5th years' written on it, and went in. Inside were four four-poster beds facing each other, a window in between two of them. She could see another door that she assumed led into the bathroom. Three of the beds had their hangings closed and slow breathing emitted from within. The fourth bed, on the left of the window, had her trunk on it. Noa kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the bed, too tired to do anything else. As she lay there, happy memories from the day flashed through her mind. She let her whole body relax as smiled as she remembered a joke James had told earlier. As sleep took over Noa, her last thought was that maybe, just maybe, this year wasn't going to be too bad.


	2. Chapter 2

'Just go over and wake her up!'

'No, I don't want to! Why don't you wake her?'

'Why should I? She's nothing to do with me!'

Noa was jerked back into consciousness as the voices in her room got louder. She was not a morning person, and she wanted to know who the fuck had woken her up at a ridiculously early hour. Opening her eyes, she took in her surroundings, getting more and more confused. She was in a four poster bed with deep red hangings closed around her, blocking the rest of the room. Looking closer at the bed clothes, she saw a crest with a lion in it embroidered on the red material. She realised that she was at Hogwarts as the memories from the previous day flooded back into her brain, alongside the realisation that she had her first official day of school today. Outside her hangings the argument carried on as a third voice spoke.

'Will you to just grow up! I'll go wake her up, although I'm pretty sure all that noise you two were making already did!'

'How fitting - you're just desperate to make a friend. Well, you know what they say, one slut attracts another, so I'm sure you two will be BFFs in no time!'

That did it for Noa. Not only had these people rudely woken her up, they had then gone on to bitch about her - hell, they'd never even met her. She sat up, swung her legs over onto the floor and stood up, pushing the hangings aside to meet the gazes of three girls. The two that were facing her were obviously the ones who had been bitching about her. One of them had hair similar to hers, but lighter in colour and was natural instead of being dyed like Noa's. She had vibrant green eyes that looked slightly embarrassed at having been caught. Next to her was a shorter girl who could only be described as a classic beauty; wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and an hourglass figure. The only thing that marred this was the expression on her face - she looked like she could smell something awful. This was directed towards the third girl, who was much closer to Noa and was the one who had been about to come and wake her up. This third girl was absolutely stunning; she was the definition of sultry, with dark eyes and hair the colour of coffee beans that cascaded down her back in soft waves. This made Noa feel slightly self conscious; she knew she wasn't looking her best, having just got up and with yesterday's makeup still on. She shrugged this off however, and focused all the anger she was feeling at the two girls by the door.

'First of all, you don't know me, so don't go around judging me. Secondly, I'd rather be a bitch than a prissy little girl with a stick stuck up her ass. Oh, and by the way, it's a rookie mistake to get caught bitching about someone.'

With that Noa turned around and pulled her trunk out from under her bed where she had shoved it last night, intent on ignoring them whilst getting ready. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the blonde girl start to reply, but the red head stopped her, and they left the room in silence. The third girl, however, made no move to leave. Instead she sat down on the bed opposite to Noa's, and started inspecting her nails. Noa sighed, she just wanted to be left alone after that harsh awakening.

'Did you want something?' Noa turned and asked the girl.

'Thought you looked lonely but whatever, but you should know that lessons start in half an hour, so if you want breakfast you should probably go down soon.'

The girl stood up and started to walk towards the door. Noa suddenly realized that this girl was the first one who had been nice to her since she arrived at Hogwarts, and in return she was being a bit of a bitch. Also, this girl intrigued Noa; with those looks and attitude she should have been really popular, yet earlier the other girls had made her out to be a friendless loser.

'Hey, wait up. I'm sorry for being abrupt, I'm not really a morning person and those other girls kinda pissed me off. I'm Noa Prewett.'

She smiled at the girl, who walked back over towards her slowly.

'It's okay, I probably would've acted the same way if I was you. My name's Marlene McKinnon.'

Noa opened her trunk and started sifting through her clothes, trying to find something suitable to wear.

'So who were those girls?'

'Unfortunately they're our roommates; Lily Evans was the one with red hair and Mary MacDonald was-'

'The bitch?' Noa interrupted her, making Marlene smile.

'I guess you could say that!'

Noa finally picked out leggings with thick white and black vertical stripes, a gold tight fitting tank top, a looser black tank top that had a ribcage in white on it to put over the other one, and leopard print heeled ankle boots. She grabbed a chunky gold necklace to finish it off, and decided that she was going to leave her hair down, before going into the bathroom to change and put on some light makeup. All the while she chatted to Marlene, who started to loosen up as the conversation carried on, and turned out to be quite similar in character to Noa.

Once she was ready, she grabbed her black shoulder bag and shoved all her books in it using an undetectable extension charm, as she didn't know what lessons she would have that day - hopefully McGonagall, as head of Gryffindor, would hand out their timetables when they got downstairs. Noa and Marlene then quickly walked down to the Great Hall, as they had less than ten minutes until lessons started.

* * *

'Ugh, slow down Marlene! These shoes were not made for running in! How much further?'

Noa and Marlene were currently hurrying through the dungeons of the castle to get to the Potions classroom, fifteen minutes late after taking longer than they should have eating breakfast.

'Just around this corner', Marlene called. Noa had no idea how she managed to get ahead; she too was wearing heels and was strolling along, yet she was ten meters in front of Noa.

Noa slowed down, she wasn't going to go into her first class looking all gross and sweaty, especially one that they were sharing with the Slytherins. From what she had seen yesterday, they were likely to grab any weakness they could see and use it to their advantage, and Noa certainly wasn't going to let them do that to her. Thinking of the event yesterday with those Slytherin boys made her think of the Marauders; she hadn't seen them yet today. Would they still be as accepting of her as they had been yesterday? However, as Marlene called again for her to hurry up, Noa reminded herself that she had another friend.

She finally reached the door Marlene was leaning against and, together, they walked into the classroom. A portly gentleman was standing at the front of the classroom, who stopped speaking as they entered and turned to look at them, along with the rest of the class.

'Miss McKinnon and Miss... ah, you must be Miss Prewett; why are you both so late?'

He looked like a pushover, Noa thought as she tried to think up an excuse quickly. She gave him a radiant smile before speaking.

'I'm sorry sir, I was talking to Professor McGonagall, and Marlene waited for me so she could show me the way.'

'Hhm, alright, I am Professor Slughorn, and it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Prewett. Now, both of you go and find somewhere to sit.'

Noa looked around her for an empty seat; she could see James and Sirius sitting together at the back - the latter waved at her after glancing at Marlene and frowning, Remus and Peter were sharing a desk next to them, in front of the boys Evans and McDonald were sitting together - in fact all of the Gryffindors were paired up. She glanced over at Marlene, and saw that the same thought had just gone through her head. Damn, that meant she had to go and sit next to a Slytherin. She looked over to the other side of the classroom for the first time, and saw a free seat near the front next to a boy with long greasy-looking hair. She groaned silently and braced herself before striding over to him. As she walked towards him, someone grabbed her hand; it was Evan Rosier.

'Hey there beautiful. Shame you didn't end up in Slytherin, but hey, we can still hang out can't we?' he gave Noa a smile that made her want to throw up as she saw the real meaning behind his words.

She wrenched her hand out of his grip and, checking that Professor Slughorn wasn't watching her, flipped him off.

'Thanks, but I'd rather go eat dirt.'

She finally reached her destination, and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

'Sorry, is this seat free?'

The boy looked up at her with an annoyed expression on his face. He shrugged at her and moved his bag from the seat. She sat down and unpacked her things, before turning to listen to what Professor Slughorn was saying.

'- and then you will finish it off next lesson, as it needs a couple of days to mature before you start the second stage. The instructions are on the board; you should be up to number fifteen by the end of this class. Annndd, go!'

Noa looked at the board as the instructions to make a Strengthening Solution appeared. She had made this potion last year at Beauxbatons, so it would be easy. She turned to her partner to ask what he wanted her to do, but realised he had already left and was getting the ingredients they needed. Noa huffed, so he was one of those guys. She lit a fire under their shared cauldron, and poked at it in an attempt to make it heat up faster. Her partner returned, arms full with ingredients.

'Hi, what can I do to help?'

He looked at her as if he had forgotten she was there.

'I don't need your help, you'll probably mess it up anyway. Just sit there and I'll do it.'

Noa let out a bark of laughter, not amused.

'If you think I'm just going to sit here while you do it all, you better think again. I plan on getting an O in potions at the end of the year in our O.W.L.S, so I'm actually going to do something during these lessons, whether you want me to or not.'

The boy stared at her, looking like he was re-evaluating her, before speaking again.

'You can crush the Griffin claw, and then add the Salamander blood.'

* * *

Noa was chatting with Marlene as they left Ancient Runes, a class that they shared with the Ravenclaws and had been rather uneventful as the Marauders hadn't been in it. In Potions James and Sirius somehow managed to slip some Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks into Remus and Peter's cauldron, causing all of them to get detention on Friday. Despite all of this, Noa still hadn't managed to talk to any of them, but hoped she would be able to at lunch, which is where she was heading right now. However, at the moment the topic of her conversation with Marlene was the boy Noa had shared a cauldron with in potions, who apparently was called Severus Snape.

'You know he didn't even bother to tell me his name all lesson, the only time he spoke to me was when he told me what to do. I mean, rude much!'

'Don't take it personally, he doesn't speak to any Gryffindors - well, except for Lily Evans, he has some kind of weird obsession with her; apparently they knew each other before Hogwarts.'

By now they had reached the Great Hall, and were walking along the Gryffindor table, trying to find some seats. As Marlene finished saying this a familiar looking fair haired boy turned around from where he was sitting at the table on the right of them.

'Hey, there you are Noa! We haven't seen you all morning! How are you settling in...' Remus trailed off as he caught sight of Marlene.

Noa, however, ignored this, and gestured to the seats next to Remus and the other Marauders, who were all shovelling food into their mouths as fast as they could and hadn't realized that there had been an interruption. 'Are these free?'

Before Remus could reply, Marlene tapped her on her shoulder, and when Noa turned around, she saw a strange sight. The Marlene she knew was gone, and in her place was a shy girl, shifting from foot to foot nervously and looking as if she wished the earth would open up and swallow her.

'Hey, I'm not feeling that great, I think I'm going to go to see Madame Pomfrey and see if she can give me something. No', she said, seeing Noa was about to interrupt,' don't come with me, I don't want you to miss lunch, I'll see you later okay?'

Before Noa had a chance to protest, Marlene hurried off, leaving Noa to wonder whether there was history between her and the Marauders and, if so, what it was.

Noa turned back to Remus, who looked much happier and relaxed now that Marlene had left. At this point Sirius stopped stuffing himself and turned around from next to Remus, finally becoming aware that something was going on.

'Noa! You're here! Sit down!' He shouted, spraying half eaten food everywhere.

Noa, half amused and half disgusted, laughed as she sat down between Sirius and Remus, and wiped her face with a napkin.

'You know, you're not as suave as all these rumours make you out to be! I'm surprised you've ever been with one girl, let alone slept with most the year!' Since Noa had arrived last night she had overheard loads of girls talking about the infamous Mr. Sirius Black, who was the apparent heartthrob of the school and known for his one night stands.

Sirius seemed lost for words as the other three boys burst out into laughter; they had all finished eating and were now listening to her.

'I'll have you know that not only am I very suave, I am charming, witty, intelligent and extremely good-looking! Also, not only have I slept with every girl worth it in our year, I've also done it with most of the 4th and 6th year girls, and even some 7th years!'

'Awww, I'm sorry, did I offend little Siri-wiris manhood!' At this remark Sirius dived at Noa, and James jumped over the table to 'protect her honour', resulting in all five of them getting kicked out of the Great Hall, even after Noa protested that it had nothing to do with her.

* * *

As they walked towards Transfiguration, Noa realized that she had no one to sit with, since the Maruaders would most likely pair up, and Marlene was in the Hospital Wing. However, when she entered the classroom, she saw that most people were leaning against the walls chatting, which gave her the impression that McGonagall assigned people seats instead of letting them choose. Her assumption was proved correct as the said Professor entered the room soon after them, and started to read names off of a piece of parchment. Most people were seated before McGonagall started to read out names that Noa recognised.

'Lupin and Pettigrew, Black and Evans', this caused James to glare enviously at Sirius,' and Potter and Prewett; I would also like to speak to you at the end of the lesson Miss Prewett.'

Everyone took their seats, falling silent as Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. After giving them a talk about how this year was very important, that O.W.L.S could determine their futures and how she wouldn't accept students into NEWT classes if they didn't get an Exceeds Expectations or higher blah de blah de blah, she set them changing an owl into opera glasses. Again, Noa had done something very similar to this last year - Beauxbatons seemed to be slightly ahead of Hogwarts with their academic curriculum - and she managed to do it on her second go. James too managed it within the first ten minutes, so they had plenty of time to chat while the rest of the class struggled along.

'So, what is up with you guys and Marlene - there was a weird vibe earlier?' Noa couldn't stop herself, she really wanted to know what had happened.

'Marlene was with us earlier? Anyway, her and Sirius hooked up last year, and it was pretty serious - for Sirius at least. She cheated on him, and everyone knew apart from him; since then things have been a bit sore between them.'

Noa mulled over this piece of information for the rest of the lesson; that was probably why MacDonald had called Marlene a slut this morning but, even though she'd only known Marlene for half a day, she didn't seem like that kind of girl. Yes, she looked like the type to have had loads of boyfriends and guys fawning over her, but Noa didn't think Marlene would purposefully hurt a guy's feelings and cheat on him. When the lesson ended Noa almost forgot that she was meant to speak to McGonagall until James reminded her.

'Oi Noa, we'll wait for you outside but don't be too long - We're starving!' Sirius shouted from the door, causing McGonagall to glare at him.

Soon everyone had left the classroom, and Noa went up to the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom.

'Miss Prewett, I just wanted to check that you are settling in well, has there been anything so far that you haven't understood in any of your lessons?' After Noa shook her head, McGonagall continued, 'Good, good. And dear, just one piece of advice, be careful around Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, they have a way of getting into trouble and I would hate for you to follow that path.'

Noa was dismissed after that warning - which she promptly dismissed, and left the classroom, looking around for the Marauders. Damn it, looked like they'd decided to go to dinner without her, and she was going to have to walk into the Great Hall alone. Noa sighed and set off, when suddenly someone jumped on her from behind and she found herself on the floor. She twisted her body around to see who was on top of her, and found herself face to face with Sirius, with less than an inch of space between their noses.

'Urgh, get off me you fat oaf- you weigh a tonne!'

'I take offence to that!'

'I'm sure you do, but I'm being serious, get off me!'

'You're not Sirius, I am!' He said as he rolled off her.

'Worst pun ever!' Noa got up, and it was then that she realised that the other three boys were staring at her and Sirius with exactly the same expression on each of their faces.

'What? C'mon I'm so hungry, let's go eat dinner!'

* * *

Noa groaned and rubbed her eyes, before dipping her quill back into her pot of ink and scratching out another sentence. She picked up her ruler and measured the essay again - it was still only 7 inches and it had to be at least 12. What else was there to say about the uses of a stupid Strengthening Solution?! She looked around her at the other Marauders; they had taken over the best sofas in the common room next to the fire to do their 'homework'. At the moment only her and Remus were actually doing work; Sirius and James were playing exploding snap while Peter watched on and shouted encouragement. As she watched, James lost and the result was a pair of very singed eyebrows. Noa flung her essay to the side - she couldn't be bothered to finish it tonight, and it wasn't due until next Monday anyway. She thought about going up to her dorm to see Marlene - she had come back from the Hospital Wing half an hour ago and, seeing Noa with the boys, had gone straight upstairs - but really couldn't be bothered to get up right now. As she just lay there, she heard two pairs of footsteps coming over towards her. She opened her eyes to see two gangly ginger haired boys, otherwise known as Fabian and Gideon Prewett.

'Hey there mini Prewett!'

Noa hit Fabian affectionately in response.

'How's life going? Anyone mistaken you for a first year yet?'

'Will you two ever lay off the short jokes - I'm 5 ft 2". Just because you two are giants...' she trailed off, glaring at them.

'Anyway, we need to talk to James and Sirius, so-'

'Alright, I'm leaving, it's not like we're related or anything!' She shouted over her shoulder as she walked up the girl's staircase.

When Noa entered the room it looked like no one was in there but, on closer inspection, she could see a strip of light under the bathroom door, indicating that the light was on inside and that someone was in there. Noa shoved her work back into her bag, kicked off her shoes, and sat on her bed with her legs crossed as she waited. Ten minutes later Marlene came out of the bathroom; she had washed all her makeup off and her eyes were red and slightly puffy, as if she'd been crying. She refused to look at Noa, and instead climbed onto her own bed. They both sat there for a while, neither saying anything. Finally Noa spoke.

'Is it true Marl?'

Marlene didn't need to ask what she meant. It was obvious that the Marauders had told Noa what had happened.

'Everything you've heard is true. He was nothing but a gentleman to me - apparently I was the first girl he ever cared about, and I ruined all of that. I won't blame you if you want to leave now and go back downstairs to be with them, after all they are everything I wasn't - kind, honest, truthful - but there is something you must know. I was in love with a muggle boy who was three years older than me, and I honestly thought he was the one. I trusted him enough to tell him what I was last Christmas; he ran off and before the week was out he had made out with my 'best friend'. When I got back I got with a lot of guys - I didn't want to remember him, and thought that that was the way to go about things. I lost all my friends, and was labelled a slut by everybody - in this school, believe me, once you've been labelled, you keep that label for life. I came to my senses over Easter, but no one believed I'd actually changed when I came back to school, and that's how it's been ever since. I haven't told anyone else all this, but I wanted to make a fresh start this year and-'

At this point Marlene couldn't keep the tears in anymore, and started sobbing silently. Noa went over to her and, sitting next to her on the bed, gave her a hug. Here was a girl who was just as broken as Noa herself, but without any friends to help her through it. Noa was sure of one thing though; she would be there for Marlene and help her recover, just as her cousins - and now the Marauders - were doing for her.

* * *

**A/N: First of all, I would like to thank everyone who's read this. I would especially like to thank BeardyBob for reviewing; it makes my day when you guys review and it motivates me to write faster so please review!**

**Secondly I just want to say that after this there will be much longer time gaps between chapters (as the story spans over three years and I'm not gonna write a chapter for every day!), sometimes up to a month or two. These first two chapters were all about establishing the relationships between the different characters and introducing my OC.**

**Also, I know that Marlene's story doesn't really seem believable as she was only 14/15 at the time it happened, but Lily and James got married as soon as they had left Hogwarts at 19, and they all come of age at 17 instead of 18 so hopefully that makes it seem more realistic. (And these things do happen sometimes)**

**If you want to see a pic of Noa's outfit google 'The Kahn game Aria Montgomery'**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**X**


	3. Chapter 3

'So, are you excited for your date?'

It was the morning of the first Hogsmeade trip, and Noa and Marlene were chatting whilst they got ready. They were alone in their dorm, as Evans was an early riser and had dragged MacDonald out with her two hours earlier. The date in question was the one Noa had with a certain sixth year Gryffindor called Amos Diggory. He was not the only one who had asked her - it seemed quite a few boys were intrigued by the new Gryffindor fifth year. There had been about six or seven boys who had asked her - including an incredibly short Hufflepuff third year - but she had picked Amos because the couple of times that she had spoken to him he had seemed nice, and he was also quite good looking. Noa glanced out of the window as she replied; despite the fact it was the first week in October, it was a sunny day and looked quite warm.

'Yeah - are you sure you don't want to come with though?'

Marlene didn't have a date - the only guy who had asked her was a sixth year Slytherin who had mentioned he didn't actually want to go to Hogsmeade with her, but to his dormitory instead - and, although they were meeting up later that afternoon after Noa's date, Noa didn't feel comfortable deserting her friend.

'No - I'll be fine! I'll have time to finish that essay for Slughorn before I come out and meet you. What kind of a friend would I be if I came along as a third wheel on a date with you and a handsome older guy!'

Noa sighed, resigned to the fact that Marlene wasn't going to change her mind, before continuing to put on eye shadow. She had opted for fairly neutral makeup, although she couldn't resist a pop of colour on her lips. Noa was wearing a black suspender skirt paired with a short, sleeveless, cream bustier top. On her feet were a pair of black, lace up, leather heeled boots. Noa loved wearing heels; the only times that she didn't feel like a midget were when she wore them, hence the reason why she wore them quite a lot. Her accessories were all silver: a metal collar necklace, thick upper arm bangle and hoop earrings. She left her hair down after curling it slightly to make it wavy.

'What's the time?' Noa asked as she put the final touches to her makeup.

'10:40.'

'Shit, I'm ten minutes late!'

Noa grabbed her bright red shoulder bag before rushing out of the dorm. As she descended the stairs that lead to the common room, she could hear Marlene shout after her, saying that she wanted to hear all the details later. The smile that that comment produced morphed quickly into a frown as Noa walked down the last couple of steps and took in the scene before her.

Sitting on one of the sofas, and looking distinctly uncomfortable, was none other than Amos. He was surrounded by Gideon, Fabian and the Marauders who all seemed to be glaring at him in silence, clearly the reason for his discomfort.

Noa strode quickly across the room, and stood in front of the group with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

'Can I help you? If not, would you mind moving so I can get to my date.'

The six boys smiled at her despite the glare she was giving them.

'We were just making sure Diggory here knows how to behave-' Fabian started.

'-And what the consequences are if he doesn't.' Gideon finished.

'Seriously! It's not like we're going to be doing things I haven't done before, and anyway, it's none of any of your businesses - especially you four!' Noa exclaimed, the last part aimed at the Marauders.

'Okay, first of all you better not let Molly hear you say that, and second of all, we don't want to hear that either!' Fabian said, looking slightly grossed out along with Gideon.

Sirius, on the other hand, was sniggering at the turn the conversation had taken, but stopped after Noa gave him a dirty look.

'Bunch of pussys.' Noa muttered as she walked through them to a rather confused looking Amos Diggory.

'Wait Noa!' James called, causing her to turn around. 'A little birdie told us that it was your birthday on Halloween, so we're organising a little something in the common room after the feast. I just thought I'd give you a heads up so that you can buy a dress or whatever today if you want - I know girls get annoyed when people throw surprise parties for them because apparently they never have anything to wear.'

Noa glared at Fabian and Gideon again, as she knew they were the ones who had told the Marauders, and she had wanted to keep it a secret, for the exact reason James had just stated. She didn't want a big party, not this year.

'Thanks for the thought, but you really don't have to do that James,' Noa protested. Sirius frowned at this comment, why wouldn't she want a party?

'Already sent the invites out.' James winked at her as she groaned.

'Come on Amos', Noa said as she grabbed his hand and led him out of the room, apologising for the unplanned start to their date as she did.

* * *

Noa made her way into the Three Broomsticks, looking in vain around the crowded pub for her best friend.

'Noa - over here!' Noa turned to see Marlene waving at her from the corner of the room where she had managed to grab a table.

Noa weaved in between all of the Hogwarts students that were milling around, before sinking into the chair opposite Marlene and accepting the butterbeer from her friend.

'These shoes are starting to kill me!' she moaned, wishing that she had thought ahead before putting on 5 inch heels that morning; they weren't the highest heels she owned but she had been walking around in them all morning.

Marlene brushed this comment aside, intent on finding out what had happened on Noa's date.

'So... how did it go?'

Noa let out a knowing smile that was infuriating to Marlene.

'Noa!'

'Alright, calm down! Despite the bad start to the date that was caused by the Marauders and my favourite cousins, he was charming and an absolute gentleman; he said I looked amazing, held open all the doors for me, showed me around the village and even bought me some chocolate from Honeydukes.'

'But?' Marlene asked, she knew one was coming.

'But he was almost too nice, you know, agreeing to everything I said like he was too afraid to do otherwise. There wasn't a spark or any chemistry. I want passion in a relationship! I want someone who I can argue with and scream and shout at; someone who I can hate so much yet at the same time love with all my heart; someone who will surprise me daily; someone who will never give up on me.'

The girls sat together in contemplative silence for a while, drinking their butterbeers. Finally Marlene broke it, asking something that she was dying to know the answer to.

'Did you kiss him?'

'Maybe...'

'Tell me everything!' Marlene squealed.

'C'mon, we should start our shopping soon; we both need to get dresses for the Halloween party.'

'You mean your birthday party! Sheesh, why are you so against having one! And pleeeeaaaase tell me about your kiss with Amos!'

'Fine!' The girls got up from the table, and headed off in the direction of the first boutique that they could see, as Noa shared the juicy details with Marlene.

Two hours later and the girls were still dress hunting. Marlene had chosen her dress in the second shop, and bought some accessories to go with it in the third one. They were now on the fifth and final clothes shop that Hogsmeade possessed, looking for a dress for Noa. The shop was very small and tucked away in a narrow alleyway that neither of the girls had been down before. It was called, according to the elegant writing above the door, Femme Fatale. Noa already had plenty of shoes and accessories already and all she needed was a dress, but she couldn't seem to find one. She wanted something different from what all the other girls would be wearing since it was her birthday party, something she could dance in, and something that suited her and represented her style, which meant no pastel colours or puffy dresses. When you had taken all that into consideration, there weren't many choices left. She had begun to give up hope that she would find anything at all, but her attitude had changed when they entered Femme Fatale, as there were some very interesting pieces in the small boutique.

They were the only two in the shop, and Noa was currently trying on some dresses in one of the two changing rooms while Marlene reclined outside in an arm chair and gave advice.

The first dress Noa came out in was an extremely short skin tight one shouldered dress. It was made out of satin, in a smokey gray colour that had a hint of green in it when the lights hit the dress in a certain way. A chiffon ruffle that was the lightest shade of grey started by Noa's left hip and went across the dress, over her right shoulder and down the back, creating the one shoulder effect and widening as it went.

'This one fits me perfectly, but I'm not sure about the colour,' Noa said to Marlene, looking at herself in the mirror.

'I know what you mean; it's more suited to a sophisticated cocktail party than your sixteenth birthday - you want something more fun and flirty,' Marlene replied as she looked Noa up and down.

Noa walked back into the dressing room and changed into the next option. Marlene had forced her to try this one on, as it was pastel coloured and not something Noa would pick out for herself. She pulled the curtain of the small cubicle open and the two girls judged the new dress together. It wasn't actually a dress, but a two piece outfit. The top was a halterneck cropped bustier top in pale pink with an abstract ivory-coloured design on it. The skirt was a highwaisted gather skirt that came to mid thigh. It was made up of alternating panels of fabric; the aforementioned and a silvery gold material.

'What do you think of this one?' Marlene asked as Noa pulled a face.

'I dunno, it's not really my style - it's too pretty pretty.'

'Yeah, I suppose so. However, it's different from the dresses that all the other girls will be wearing so you'll stand out.'

'Standing out... mmhm... I've got it!' Before Marlene could ask what 'it' was, Noa had disappeared behind the curtain again. She appeared again less than a minute later, and twirled, showing her new outfit off.

'Noa, it's perfect!'

* * *

The girls were walking up to the castle some time later, chatting together about their dresses, how they should do their hair and what make up to wear, despite the fact that the party was still a couple of weeks away. As they entered the castle they noticed a lot of people leaving the Great Hall. Noa interrupted Marlene halfway through her comment about one brand of eyeliner versus another one, with a worried expression on her face.

'Marlene, why is everyone leaving the Great Hall?'

Marlene looked at her watch quickly before swearing under her breath. 'We spent way more time than I thought shopping - we've only got a twenty minutes before dinner ends and we have to drop out bags off at the Gryffindor tower beforehand.'

'Why don't I take them all up while you save me a seat and some food?' Noa offered.

'I think it would probably be better if I took them - I doubt you'd make it back before morning with those shoes on!' Marlene giggled before walking up the stairs at a brisk pace.

Noa looked down at her shoes and sighed, Marlene was right, at the moment it took all of her will power to stop herself from hobbling. She entered the near empty room and sat down at the end of the red and gold covered table, grabbing enough food for herself and Marlene onto a plate before all the serving dishes vanished back down to the kitchens.

Before she had a chance to start eating, someone sat next to her and grabbed a fry from her plate.

'Hungry tonight, eh Prewett,' Sirius Black flashed a hundred watt smile at her and, whilst she was momentarily distracted by his sudden entrance, grabbed another fry.

'You could say that Black,' Noa replied, slapping his hand as he went in for a third.

'So, how was your date with Diggory? That prat didn't try anything did he?!'

'It was fine and no, he didn't try anything. What would you have done if he had - hung him up by his pants from the Astronomy tower?'

'Good idea for next time! He is a bit of a boring idiot, isn't he?'

At the raised eyebrow from Noa, Sirius changed the subject.

'I've been meaning to ask - why don't you want a party? And don't give me some crap about not liking parties because we both know that that's not true.'

'When did you get so good at reading me?' Noa laughed without any amusement, but Sirius wouldn't have it and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow as he waited for her to continue. She sighed, and then spoke again in a quieter tone. 'Fine, I don't want to celebrate my birthday this year because it reminds me of my parents. Every year they would take the day off of work and take me out of school, and we would drive to the beach - no matter the weather - for the day. Those days were perfect, full of barbeques, paddling, ice cream and sand castle building. When my mum died and I went to Beauxbatons I didn't tell anyone when my birthday was, I didn't want a big fuss or anything like that, but my dad would still always drive up the weekend before or after and take me out for chocolate cake. It's not that hard to push thoughts of them out of my mind here, there is so much that goes on, but on my birthday I can't help but think of them. So that's why I didn't want a big affair - I guess it's too late for that now though.'

'Noa,' Sirius said in a voice more gentle than anything she had heard him say before. 'We are your family now: Me, Fabian, Gideon, James, Remus - even Peter. Each one of us would do anything for you. And hey, a party is better than lying in bed depressed, right?!'

His cheeky smile back, he gave her a one armed hug.

'Thanks Sirius,' she mumbled, feeling a lot happier than she had all day. As she went back to eating, she noticed a piece of parchment on the table next to Sirius, filled with scribbles and diagrams in very familiar handwriting. She tried to grab it, but he had amazing reflexes and stuffed it in the pocket before she could.

'What's that?' she asked curiously.

'Oh, that old thing. Just some notes from Transfiguration.'

'Worst lie ever - you never take notes! And why is it in Fabian and Gideon's handwriting?'

'You caught me. It's just the finer details for a little something the twins, Prongs, Moony, Worms and I are planning for the Halloween feast.'

Noa shook her head, she would never understand their stupid nicknames. 'So, what is it, I want in.'

Sirius shook his head in an infuriating way, and mimed locking his lips. 'Sorry Noa, these kinda things aren't for people like you, why don't you just leave it to the professionals.'

Before Noa could start to lecture him on what a sexist pig he was, he had gone, leaving her alone again. Noa was fuming - how dare he say she couldn't do something! She had heard all about the Marauder's famous pranks and, to be honest, she didn't think it was that hard to make one up. She would show them that she could pull a prank as good as theirs, if not better! Ideas came flooding into Noa's mind, but before she could write any of them down Marlene entered the hall and came over to her. She didn't mention any of this to Marlene, as she knew the girl would back out as soon as she heard the Marauders were involved; things were still sore between them and as much as she tried to shove them together they wouldn't even speak to each other. So Noa pushed the ideas to the back of her mind where she could access them at a later date, before turning to Marlene and starting to chat.

* * *

It was past one, and the Gryffindor common room was empty as Noa snuck out through the Portrait Hole. She hadn't been able to sleep, and the fact that she was itching to start planning her prank combined with her grumbling stomach - despite the fact she had eaten six hours ago - had forced her to get up on a night-time excursion to the library and then the kitchens. Hanging out with the Marauders definitely had its peaks, one being that by the end of her third week she knew all the secret passageways in and out of the castle, the quickest ways to get anywhere, and where the kitchens were.

She hurried to the library quickly, managing to avoid running into any prefects or teachers. After muttering a hushed 'Lumos', Noa started looking through the advanced charms section, pulling three or four books out that she thought would be useful and help her with her prank before setting off towards the kitchen. She made it there successfully as well. After receiving a cup of coffee and a stack of chocolate chip pancakes from a couple of sleepy - but very willing - house elfs, she opened the first book and started to flip through it, occasionally pausing on a certain page and taking notes on a crumpled piece of parchment she had found in her pocket.

It wasn't until the clock in the kitchen struck four that Noa put the books back in her bag and left, thankful that it was Sunday tomorrow - or today since it was technically the morning - and she would be able to sleep in.

Noa was passing through the Entrance Hall on her way to the Gryffindor Tower when she first heard the voices. Curious, she turned the corner and followed them.

'Damn it! You just stepped on my toe!'

'Well I wouldn't have if you didn't have massive feet!'

Me? You're the one-'

A third voice then spoke.

'Shh - I think I heard footsteps!'

Noa knew she was near to these people, their voices were now quite loud, but the corridor in front of her was deserted. It was almost as if they were invisible. When she heard these last words she knew that it was her footsteps that they had heard and, since she knew** she** wasn't invisible, Noa dived behind a tapestry where she knew there was a small alcove. After a few minutes of silence, Noa considered it safe to carry on. She stepped out into the corridor again, and was met with a pair of yellow lamp-like eyes. Mrs. Norris. Shit, Noa thought; if the rumours about the connection that the cat had with her master were true then Filch would be here in a matter of seconds.

Noa set off at a sprint, her shoes slapping against the stone floor as she gave up on trying to be quiet - it was too late for that. She got back to the Gryffindor Tower in record time, hissing out the password to a very disgruntled and sleepy Fat Lady. Getting into bed, she let exhaustion take over, with all thoughts of the mysterious voices banished from her mind.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter three is finally up! Sorry for the wait, I was away for a week in Devon without a computer or any internet connection :/**

**Sorry that there isn't much action in this chapter - it's a bit of a filler chapter - but next chapter there will be two awesome pranks and Noa's 16th birthday!**

**I didn't get any reviews last chapter and I was wondering - do people like this story or not? And if not - what can I do to make it better?**

**If you want to look up any of the outfits mentioned in this chapter then google the following:**

**Noa's outfit for Hogsmeade: Cher Lloyd Oath first outfit (it's the second pic)**

**First dress Noa tries on: Selena gomez people's choice awards 2011 pink dress (but I've changed the colour to grey in this chapter)**

**Second dress Noa tries: Selena Gomez kca's 2012**

**Enjoy reading and please review, even if it's to tell me my punctuation and grammar are awful!**

**X**


	4. Chapter 4

It was that peculiar time when the moon had set, but the sun hadn't yet risen, and everything was bathed in an eerie grey light. Professor Dumbledore noted this through one of the gothic arch shaped windows in his study as he paced up and down, contemplating great matters to do with the impending war. Whether it was because he was thinking over such a serious subject, or because his eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be, or maybe a mixture of both, he failed to notice the unusual activities that were occurring outside. First of all, in response to a summoning charm, a school broom somehow made its way out of the usually locked broom shed. Someone had either forgotten to lock it the night before, or perhaps someone had gone down afterwards and unlocked it, in anticipation of the mornings activities. Ten minutes later the broom passed by the window again, but this time it had a rider, dressed all in black, who seemed to be levitating a four poster bed - whose occupant was still asleep - before them. Once this mysterious person had dropped the bed off somewhere, they made their way back. They repeated this process another three times, until they had brought four beds down. All was quiet for half an hour before the dark clothed person, framed by the now rising sun, passed by Dumbledore's window for the final time, heading back in the direction they had originally come from.

* * *

As Marlene awoke slowly, confusion clouded her mind. She could hear the slightly crackly sound of the radio that was kept on the window sill, and someone was singing along to it. This was very unusual in the girls 5th year dorm, as even though Evans and MacDonald were early risers, no one woke up at six fifteen in the morning when lessons didn't start until nine. The other girls in the dorm obviously felt the same way, as Marlene didn't even need to open her eyes to hear their groans. She ripped her curtains open, about to shout at whoever had interrupted her beauty sleep, but the sight in front of her confused her even more that all she could say was;

'Huh?'

The girl in question, the one who had woken them all up over an hour earlier than usual with her slightly off tune singing, was none other than Noa Prewett. The girl who had had to be forcefully woken up every morning with threats, had actually got up before everyone else!

Noa was sitting cross legged on her bed, reading a long letter with a smile on her face. The scattered remains of wrapping paper surrounded her, along with a cake tin and a knitted oversized beanie that was rapidly changing colours. Marlene was even more surprised to see that Noa had already gotten dressed and ready for the day; she was wearing a black tank top with a skull on it, navy blue jeggings, a bright green letterman jacket with a white and black stripe around the collar and wrists, and her favourite pair of leather biker boots. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with couple of loose strands framing her face, and there was a black bandana tied around her head. She was wearing large hoop earrings and her trademark bright lips were quirked up in a smile as she saw her best friend gaping at her.

'You're catching flies!' Noa said in a sing song voice.

'I swear, if it wasn't your birthday today-' Marlene was cut off as a pillow hit her square in the face, and she could hear laughter that sounded suspiciously like Noa's. She resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to be getting back to sleep so she got up, went to sit next to her best friend and picked up the beanie.

'Who's this from?' As soon as she touched it, it changed to a red that was exactly the same shade as the curtains on all four of the beds.

'That, oh Molly and Arthur sent it to me. It changes colour depending on what the person who's touching it is thinking of. Molly knitted it and Arthur charmed it.'

Marlene closed her eyes and concentrated for a second, and when she opened them again the beanie had become a sunshine yellow.

'That is so cool!'

'I know right! Now, down to business; we need to be down at the Great Hall at seven sharp, so you should probably start getting ready now since you always take so loooooong!'

'Me? There's a reason why you're nicknamed the bathroom hogger! And why do we need to be down to breakfast two hours before lessons?'

But Noa simply winked, and pushed Marlene off of the bed and in the direction of the bathroom. She waited a few seconds later until she heard the bathroom door lock, before going back to her letter.

Half an hour later Noa marched into the bathroom and dragged Marlene out, despite the fact that her friend 'hadn't finished putting on her makeup'. The girls left their dorm for the first time that year before Evans and MacDonald, although there weren't many other people around to acknowledge this shocking fact. Noa still refused to tell Marlene what was going on until the dark haired girl forcibly stopped her half way along a deserted corridor. Noa smiled wickedly and, after looking around herself furtively, leaned towards Marlene and said four words.

'I pranked the unprankable!'

Before Marlene could ask any more questions, Noa was off again down the corridor. Marlene followed slowly behind, a worried look on her face as she put two and two together and came up with four.

However, as she rounded the final corner and came in sight of the Great Hall, her anxious thoughts were forgotten as she took in the sight. Marlene tried to contain it, but couldn't help herself and let out a peal of laughter. She looked over to where Noa was standing, a smug smile firmly in place.

'I know, I'm a genius!'

Just then, both of them heard footsteps coming in their direction. Noa grabbed Marlene and pulled her into a little alcove behind a nearby tapestry, where they both had a great view of the Great Hall and what lay inside.

* * *

As James rose back into consciousness he quickly pulled his sheets over his ears, anticipating the usual loud wakeup call from Remus. The studious boy was the only one of the Marauders that could be woken up by an alarm clock, meaning it was his job to wake up the other three, and the methods he used were very inventive. However, instead of the clash of cymbals that had greeted him the previous morning, he heard some loud laughter that sounded very feminine. James opened his eyes abruptly, and his features distorted themselves into a confused frown as he took in the scene around him. The first thing he noticed was that his bed and all his sheets were pink, followed shortly by the realisation that he, along with the other boys, was in the Great Hall. Surrounding their beds were a gaggle of girls, all laughing and whispering to each other - one of them even had their camera out documenting the whole occasion.

James suddenly heard a loud gasp from the bed next to him, and when he rolled over even he couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. Sirius, Remus and Peter were all wearing what looked like bright pink bunny onsies with matching ears. Opposite him, Remus raised an eyebrow.

'Why don't you take a look at yourself before laughing at the rest of us.'

When James looked down, he saw that he was dressed in an identical outfit to the others.

'Quickly, we've got to get out of here before the whole population of the school sees us!'

James realised that Sirius, for once, was right, and tried to scramble out of his bed. However, as soon as he sat up, the sheets around James grabbed him and pulled him back down.

Their faces getting redder and redder, the boys lay there squirming as the throng around them grew, and with it the sound of laughter until suddenly a burst of red light erupted above their heads accompanied with a bang. Everyone turned as one to see a ferocious looking witch stride in accompanied by an older wizard who, by the twinkle in his eye, found the situation more amusing than his counterpart.

'SILENCE!'

The crowd seemed to melt away as the teens hurried to sit down at their tables, all of them eager not to be caught in the middle of everything and therefore subjected to a detention with Filch.

As if the arrival of Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore was a signal, although some people in hindsight thought it might have more to do with the girl wearing the green letterman jacket and mischievous smile who slipped in after them, a large sign appeared above the boys.

'Looks like 'the professionals' just got pranked! Happy Halloween!'

As McGonagall approached, a look of shock came over her face as she realized who the four boys were.

'Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, what is the meaning of this?!'

'Well, Minny, we really are as clueless as you this time.'

'Minny' glared at Sirius for a second, before focusing on the matter in hand. Realizing that the boys couldn't leave their beds, McGonagall flicked her wand in a complex pattern making the sheets disappear. She opened her mouth to deduct house points from the boys, before reluctantly realising that they were the victims not the protagonists for once.

'Well, you'd better go and change before lessons start, and quickly, I don't want any excuses for you missing the beginning of your first lesson.'

The boys filed out of the Great Hall, their heads bent as they heard the laughter start up all around them again.

'And I was under the impression that it was you guys who did pranks on people, not the other way round.'

Noa had popped up from her seat at the Gryffindor table to walk alongside the boys, munching on a piece of French Toast as she spoke.

'Haha, very funny', James said with a deep scowl.

Remus and Peter's facial expressions matched his, but when Noa turned to taunt Sirius, she saw a look of concentration on his face. Suddenly his jaw dropped alongside the metaphorical penny.

'You!'

'Me?' Noa asked, trying hard to stop herself from grinning.

'You did this - the conversation we had - 'the professionals' - you wanted to prove to us -'

'Now, now Mr Black, I don't think you should start throwing around false accusations; is there a reason why you're still here instead of changing out of this ludicrous outfit?'

Professor McGonagall stood behind the five with a thin eyebrow raised as she looked pointedly at the boys. The Marauders ran off, James and Remus each dragging one of Sirius's arms as he continued to shout, things that sounded like nonsense to everyone else except the person who had caused all the chaos. Noa, meanwhile, sat back down at the Gryffindor table with a secret half smile on her face. Opposite her, Marlene giggled.

'Damn, I wish I'd brought my camera down so I could have taken some pictures of them in their little pink bunny suits!'

'Don't worry, there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to do that.'

Marlene looked at Noa, her brow furrowed in confusion. Noa, however, just laughed and grabbed a piece of bacon, looking forward to the day ahead.

* * *

Opening the door to her dorm room, Noa threw herself onto her bed and stared up at the red drapes above her. She had just come up from dinner, and had immediately been kicked out of the Common Room by the Marauders, who had to 'organise' some things for her party later that evening. She had to hand it to them, after her prank that morning she hadn't thought that they would still be so eager to set up her party for her, but they weren't holding even the slightest grudge. Instead, they had congratulated her and hinted that they'd like her input in future pranks, even after they had realised that their onsies were stuck on them until sundown. Plenty of opportunities for pictures. She had to hand it to them, they had even changed their prank at the last minute to incorporate her own and to simultaneously stop themselves from looking like dorks. She had been expecting a prank from them at dinnertime, but nothing of this scale. The boys had transfigured the floor of the Great Hall to become a grassy trampoline, and there were country flowers dotted here and there. The walls had become blue, and the ceiling had been tricked to show a summer day. Overall, if you squinted slightly, you could be outside in mid-August. The Marauders had then charmed to doorway, so that everyone who passed through it had their clothes change into a bunny onsie in the colour of their house. They had then made it so that nobody, once they had entered, could exit, resulting in pandemonium until Dumbledore sorted it out, with McGonagall following closely behind to dish out detentions by the dozen. Most people, however, had enjoyed bouncing around and Noa could see why the Marauders were popular. As a bonus, they had put another spell on the Slytherins, making their outfits both sparkly and multicoloured. They had then done a complex piece of magic meaning all the Slytherin students had gone around singing love songs and hugging everyone.

Noa shook her head and thought back to the current activity that the boys were immersed in; although she was touched that they were putting so much effort into this, it also worried her, she still didn't really want a huge birthday party. Noa rolled onto her side and checked her clock, noting that she still had just a couple of hours to amuse herself before the party started at nine. Marlene was at the library doing Divination and Care of Magical Creatures homework with some Ravenclaws in her class; but, since Noa didn't share either class with Marlene, she couldn't go and join them. Anyway, she didn't feel like going to the library. Hanging out with the Marauders - or any Gryffindor for that matter - was out of the question since the Common Room was off limits. It was too dark outside for a stroll, and the only other place she could think of going was the kitchens, but she decided against that as well as she had just eaten dinner.

After lying restlessly on her bed for a couple more minutes, Noa sat up again and pulled her trunk out from under the bed. Most of her clothes were folded in her chest of drawers or hung up in her wardrobe, meaning her trunk was quite empty, with just a few of her thicker jumpers and more wintery clothes taking up the better part of it. However, after pushing a thick-knit cardigan to one side, a few dark mahogany boxes came into view. Noa opened the first one, and a black-and-white photo fluttered out and onto the bottom of the trunk. It depicted a woman and a little girl icing cupcakes together, the girl having to stand on a stool to reach the counter, whilst chatting animatedly. As she watched, a man jumped into the photo and grabbed the little girl around the waist, swinging her round as she started to laugh. The woman leaned against the counter and watched them, a fond smile on her face. Suddenly everything went blurry, as Noa's eyes filled up with tears. She could remember this occasion vividly; The cakes had been for Fabian and Gideon, as it was the day before their birthday and Noa and her Mom were just finishing them off before they flooed to her Aunt's house.

Once Noa had wiped away her tears she shoved the photo under her pillow, away from prying eyes, and hastily put the lid back on the box, not feeling up to looking through the rest of its contents. She placed it back in her trunk and took out the next box, identical to the first, and opened it up. It was lined with ruched silk that surrounded a pair of peach-coloured ballet shoes, also made of the finest silk and the real reason why she had opened her trunk in the first place. Not many people, at Beuxbatons or Hogwarts, knew that she had taken ballet lessons since she was four and, for a while, had considered going professional. Dance wasn't the only creative pastime Noa enjoyed; she was also passionate about art, and had decided to take muggle art as a subject at Hogwarts; Noa was also good with a sewing machine, and made some of her own clothes, as well as other trinkets. However, ballet was her first love, and whenever life was getting too much for her she would dance. Noa would dance until her legs ached, until her feet were blistered, until she had forgotten why she started dancing. An outsider might ask why she was getting out her ballet shoes now: she was at an great school, it was her birthday, and she had a close circle of amazing friends who were at this very moment setting up a party where she was the guest of honour. But Noa hadn't taken her shoes out of their box since her father had passed, let alone danced in them. She had put up a good front for everyone, and most of the time she could deal with it, but then there were those mornings when she could barely drag herself out of her bed, and those evenings when all she wanted to do was scream and cry and hit someone. And today, on her first birthday without either of her parents, she just needed to get away from reality.

Suddenly the perfect location to practice popped into Noa's mind. She hurried into the bathroom and wiped off all the day's makeup, before going to change her clothes into some more suitable for ballet. She put on a backless black leotard and paired it with some aubergine-coloured leg warmers so she didn't freeze. Still feeling a little cool, Noa pulled on a finely-knitted off-the-shoulder red jumper over her leotard. She slipped her feet into a pair of black pumps, put her ballet shoes into her currently empty school bag and covered herself with her Hogwarts robes, as she felt to walk around in nothing but a leotard and jumper would be somewhat inappropriate if a teacher saw her.

She snuck through the common room, shielding her eyes with her hand so that she didn't mess up the surprises that Sirius, James, Remus and Peter were planning. Then, trusting her instincts, she made her way to a place that she had only visited a few times so far during her stay at Hogwarts, the Astronomy Tower. She transfigured a crumpled piece of paper found in the pocket of her robes into a barre, and then sat down to put on her shoes. She stepped towards the bar and went en pointe using the relevé method and rolling up on the foot with both feet. It was harder and more painful than usual, and Noa realised that a couple of months break from ballet meant she was a few steps behind normal, and she was going to have to start with some exercises to strengthen the muscles in her legs and feet before she could start to properly dance. She put one had on the barre and placed her feet in first position. Plié, en pointe, plié. Then to second position. Plié, en pointe, plié.

* * *

By the time the door opened quietly behind her, just over an hour later, Noa was so immersed in the dance that she didn't hear it. Sirius stood behind her, his hand still on the door, entranced by the scene in front of him. Sirius didn't appreciate classical dance, especially ballet. His parents had dragged him to a performance every Christmas to show off their expensive clothing and accessories, despite the fact the dancers were muggle, and Sirius loathed it. But this, this was something else. There was no music, but he could hear in his head what it would be like. He watched Noa's body flow into different positions, executing each move perfectly. Something stirred inside Sirius, a foreign emotion. As he continued to watch, Noa pirouetted and as she came down her jumper slipped down her arms some more, revealing her shoulder blades and, in-between them, a tattoo Sirius never knew she had. It was a floating feather, only a few inches in length, and inked in black-and-white. Before he was able to recognise what bird it was from, Noa moved again, and the tattoo was once again hidden. Eyes closed, she then slowly sank to the floor, and Sirius realised she had finished. He slipped back into the shadows, not ready to announce his presence, and continued to watch her. She pulled her legs up to her chest, and her body started to shake as a tear trickled down her cheek. A wave of emotion engulfed Sirius, and suddenly he couldn't stay there anymore. His heart beating madly, he quickly left the tower and started to run, not caring where he was going. Finally Sirius stopped, and sat down, his head in his hands. Lost, confused, scared, he stayed that way for a long time.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever and I am truly sorry for that. There are a bunch of reasons why, but I won't bore you with them now, and I hope this chapter makes up for my absence. **

**This was originally going to be one long chapter including the party, but the word count was past 7,000 so I decided to split it into two chapters, which means you'll be getting another one very soon!**

**I would really appreciate it if each and every one of you could write a review after reading this, as this is the fourth chapter and I've only got one review, which makes me feel a bit down. Is there something wrong with the story? Too much of something, too little of something? Something I could change to make it better? If you write a review, I can improve it or at least understand what you guys are feeling as you read this; even if it's 'Noa's breakfast really made me want French Toast and bacon!'. Reviews motivate me to write faster and upload faster, so it's a win-win situation!**

**Sooooooooo...thoughts? Was the prank okay? (You'll be seeing the Marauders' prank next chapter!) It gets a bit sombre at the end, did you enjoy that? Did I write it well, and convey the emotion Noa was feeling? And what about Sirius at the very end, what is up with him?**

**I love you guys, and hope you enjoyed.**

**Please review XX**


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